Journal lubricators



Nov. 10, 1964 L. E. HOYER ETAL I 3,156,507

JOURNAL LUBRICATORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 50, 1962 v INVENTORS'. LLEW ELLY N E HOY ER EDWARD R. GORCYCA L. E. HOYER ETAL JOURNAL LUBRICATORS Nov. 10, 1964 Filed July 30, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS LLEWELLYN E. HOYER EDWARD R GORCYCA Nov. 10, 1964 L. E. HOYER ETAL 3,156,507

JOURNAL LUBRICATORS Filed July 50, 1962 5 Sheets$heet 3 INVENTORS: LLEWELLYN E HOYER BEIPWARD R. GORCYCA MmWM//w Nov. 10, 1964 L. E HOYER ETAL 3,156,507

JOURNAL LUBRICATORS Filed July 30, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS. LLEWELLYN E. HOYER EDWARD R. GORCYCA Nov. 10, 1964 L. E. HOYER ETAL 3,156,507

JOURNAL LUBRICATORS Filed July 50, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS. LLEWELLYN E. HOYER g DWARD R. GORCYCA W PH" 5..

United States Patent O 3,156,507 JOURNAL LUBRICATORS Llewellyn E. Hoyer, wycko f, and Edward R. Gorcyca,

This invention relates to a lubricator for the journal of a railroad car.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Serial No. 57,029, filed September 19, 1960, now abandoned and Serial No. 119,623, filed June 26, 1961, now abandoned.

In an endeavor to improve the lubricating efficiency for railroad car journals that are rotatably supported by a conventional or standard AAR segmental bearing, there have been various proposals involving oil absorbent pad arrangements that are to supplant oil soaked waste packing which was for many years the standard form of lubricator. In many instances, the pad-type lubricator proposed has been of multiple form, that is, oil-wicking woven fabric materials are so arranged and connected together as to afford a plurality of pockets in which sponge or foam pads, highly absorbent of oil, are packed. Such arrangements have involved considerable expense, and the primary object of the present invention is to construct quite inexpensively a pad-type lubricator for the journal of a railroad car.

One of the more critical aspects of proper lubrication of a railroad car journal is the assurance that lubricant will be efficiently fed to the lowest or nadir area of the car journal when the car first commences motion. Thus, it has been determined that high efficiency of lubrication should be achieved at the time the car commences motion, since otherwise factors giving rise to the development of a hot-box become quite pronounced. This same consideration prevails at times when the journal box is tending toward a dry condition insofar as the quantity of lubricating oil contained therein is concerned, that is, since the oil level is assumed to be quite low under this circumstance it is important that there be a quick and direct feed of oil to the low part of the car journal which will of course be in vertical alignment with the low part of a journal box where residual lubricant tends to collect by gravity. In view of these considerations, another object of the present invention is to construct a pad-type lubricator that embodies a highly efficient oil wick at the center area of the lubricator which ordinarily will be aligned with the low part of the journal box and the low part or medial section of the car journal.

Other objects of the present invention are to reduce the costs of a lubricator of the foregoing kind by taking advantage of various sections of fabric strips to construct relatively stiff limit elements at the opposite sides of the lubricator which will cooperate with fixed parts in the journal box to limit shifting of the lubricator; to strengthen the various sections of the lubricator; to prevent the possibility of fraying; and to enable a lubricator to be easily and economically assembled to include a cover represented by a single piece of fabric shaped to afford a pair of pockets for oil-absorbent resilient inserts and a looped or pleated center portion providing the aforesaid center wick.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the, best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may 3,156,507 Patented Nov. 10., 1964 be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lubricator constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of the journal box of a railroad car showing the lubricator of the present invention in operative position therein;

FIG. 4 is a compound view showing the nature of the fabric strips in plan that are used to construct the lubricator;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the juxtaposed fabric strips in a preliminary stage of assembly;

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6 are sectional views on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the lines 5A5A, 5B-5B and 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the lubricator shown in FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a journal box illustrating a lubricator of the present invention installed operatively therein.

One form of lubricator constructed under the present invention is illustrated at 10 in FIG. 1, being constructed from a pair of strips of woven fabric material that will efficiently wick or transfer oil by capillarity. Thus, there is an upper strip 11, FIG. 8, and a lower strip 12, and for reasons to be explained hereinafter the lower strip is of a quite heavy cotton duck material, such as Army Duck, whereas the upper strip 11 is a cotton fabric of less fabric weight. This saves on cost as will be apparent, and as will be explained hereinafter the heavier lower strip is utilized to afford relatively stiff limit stops at the opposite sides of the lubricator.

As will be apparent in FIGS. 1 and 8, the upper strip is chenilled or piled to afford a plurality of thick, flulfy pile loops 11A which are uniformly distributed throughout the exposed outer surface of the upper strip, and it will be appreciated that the loops 11A are afforded by interweaving thick cotton yarns among the warp and weft threads in the upper strip. In contrast to the upper strip the lower strip does not have pile affording yarns interwoven therewith, but is plain as will be particularly evident in FIG. 4.

The two strips 11 and 12 are so sized that, when joined together as a jacket or sleeve in the particular manner hereinafter described, there is resultantly afforded a pair of elongated parallel pockets 15, FIG. 8, into which pads of an oil absorbent sponge material such as Neoprene sponge pads 16, FIG. 8, are packed, and these oil absorb ing members are capable of absorbing a large quantity of lubricating oil of the kind normally used in lubricating a railroad car journal. Thus, prior to the time that a completed lubricator of the kind herein described is in? stalled in the journal box, the lubricator including the pad inserts 16 is soaked for a prolonged period in the lubricant so that the pads as 16 will absorb lubricant to the maximum extent, and thereafter the lubricator 10. is installed in the journal box which additionally is furnished with oil to the usual level. In operation, oil is continuously wicked at fast rates to the car journal which rotates on the upper surface of the lubricator in contact with the pile loops, and in this manner a film of lubricant is afforded on the car journal.

Thus, before considering in detail further construction aspects in accordance with the present invention, attention is directed to FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the lubricator of the present invention operatively disposed in a railroad journal box 1B. The .axle A of the car is of standard form and includes a journal portion J of reduced diameter which is disposed within the journal box to rotate in contact with the bearing lining BL of a segmental bearing SB that is positioned at the top of the journal box by means including the usual wedge W. The extremities of journal portion I of the axle are defined by fillet surfaces FSl and PS2 which are respectively adjacent the so-called dust guard seat D8 of the axle and the end collar C. As best shown in FIG. 2, the lubricator 10 is so sized as to its longitudinal dimension as to hug substantially the lower half of the journal between the fillet surfaces of the journal. The normal oil level for the journal box is indicated at L in FIG. 2, and it will be noted that a substantial portion of the lubricator 10 is submerged therein.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be noted that the upper strip -11 is generally of rectangular shape, as is the lower strip 12, but the upper strip is somewhat larger in comparison to the lower strip, both in the longitudinal and transverse extents. The plan views in FIG. 4, it will be appreciated, show the spread-out nature of the strips prior to assembly and joining, and in this connection it will be noted that the pile loops 11A are restricted to a transverse longitudinal band that extends across the upper strip from one of the longitudinal edges to the other. This is the band of loops 11A shown in perspective in FIG. 1.

The upper strip 11 includes four retainer flaps respectively at the corners thereof, namely, the rectangular flaps 20, 21, 22 and 23. These flaps, as will be apparent from the description to follow, are approximately the width and height of the pockets 15, and serve as retainers which maintain the oil absorbent members as 16 in place within the pockets.

Thus, there are a pair of retainer flaps, 20-21 and 22- 23, projecting outwardly from the margins of the pile loop band along the transverse sides or margins of the upper strip 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper strip 11 is slitted inwardly from the transverse edges to the pile loop band at slit lines 25, 26, 27 and 28, and such slitting affords a pair of medial flaps 30 and 31 that are respectively located between the corner flaps along the transverse margins of the strip 11.

As noted above, the cotton duck lower strip 12, FIG. 4, is of smaller size in comparison to the upper strip 11 although it is of a heavier fabric weight. The lower strip 12, at the time of assembly, has a narrow fabric strap 85 stitched to what constitutes the upper face thereof, and it will be noted that this strap is located at the center section of the lower strip 12. The strap 35 is held in place by stitches S1 and S2, and one end of the strap 35 is folded over to afford a loop 36, FIGS. 1 and 4, which aifords an outwardly projecting, free bight that is exposed at the lower, center front of the lubricator in position to be grasped manually incidental to positioning and withdrawing the lubricator in and from the journal box. The loop 36 is maintained by a transverse stitch S3, FIG. 4. The lower strip 12 has a pair of transverse free folds F1 and F2 along the margin thereof. These folds reinforce the retainer flaps as will be described.

As was noted above, the corner flaps of the upper strip 11 are to be used as retainers for the oil absorbent inserts 16, and in order to strengthen these as retainers, each flap at the inner margin thereof adjacent the chenille band is tucked under the pile loop section to afford inwardly directed pleats PL, FIGS. 1 and 7, and these pleats are secured by transverse stitches as S4, FIGS. 1 and 7, that are run through the upper face of the upper strip 11 and into the pleats PL. At the same time the medial flaps 30 and 31 are pleated and stitched in like manner, and it will be appreciated that this stitching is parallel to the transverse margins of the pile loop band as will be evident in FIG. 1.

Before joining the upper and lower strips to join the pockets 15 as an integral assembly, the upper strip is bunched at the center section to aiford an elongated free pleat or loop element 40, FIGS. 1 and 8, that will lie between and divide the pockets. The loop 40 is of such size that the bight portion thereof extends well above the upper piled 0r chenilled surface of the upper strip 11 as will be apparent in FIGS. 1 and 8. While the medial flaps 30 and 31 of the upper strip are illustrated in FIG. 5 as extending outwardly of the loop 49, this is merely to show the relationship involved, and it should be explained that these flaps are to be tucked into the inside of the loop 40 as will be evident in FIGS. 1 and 8.

After or when forming the fold 40, the upper strip is juxtaposed on the lower strip so that the loop 40 is aligned parallel with the pull strap 35. This condition is illusstrated in FIG. 5, and in this connection it should be pointed out that areas of the pile loop band in FIG. 5 ar shown as pulled or pushed back to reveal the relationship of the corner flaps 20, 2'1, 22 and 23 which are to have the free edges thereof opposite the pleats PL tucked in under the folds F1 and F2 of the lower strip 12. This is the condition shown in FIG. 5. In the proper dimensioning and relating of parts, the free ends of the lower strip 12 are to be re-entrantly folded as shown at 42 and 43 in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and this re-entrant fold juxtaposed over the free ends 11E of the pile loop band to thereby afford a pair of quite stiff limit elements 45 and 46, FIGS. 1 and 8, at the sides of the lubricator.

Thus, the preliminary assembly steps include the formation of the pleats PL, the formation of the told 40 on the upper strip, the tucking in of the lower or free ends of the above-identified corner flaps under the folds F1 and F2 of the lower strip, and the tucking in of the medial flaps 30 and 31 into the loop 40.

The pleat 40 is secured by parallel stitches S5 and S6, FIG. 8, on opposite sides of the bottom of the pleat or loop 40 where it extends upwardly from the upper strip. Such stitching at the same time in part joins and completes formation of the pockets 15. Thus, stitches S5 and S6 extend through the strap 35 and through the corresponding center area of the lower strip 12, and consequently not only is the part 40 defined in this manner as a permanent wicking element but also the pocket formation is commenced.

The free ends of the retainer flaps are tucked under the folds F1 and F2 and are secured in place by transverse stitches S7 and S8. The oil absorbent pads are pushed in place to abut the juncture of the pockets at the stitches S5 and S6. Creation of the re-entrant folds that afford the end limits 45 and 46 is commenced by forming the first folds F3 and F4, FIGS. 5A and SE, at free ends of the lower strip, and these initial folds are secured by stitches S12 and S13, FIGS. 5A and 5B. The second folds F4 and F5 are made and are juxtaposed over the free ends 11E of the upper strip. Staples 50, FIGS. 1 and 8, are then driven through the re-entry folds and the interposed ends 11E of the upper strip to afford the stiffened and reinforced end limits 45 and 46. This at the same time closes off the pockets 15 on all sides.

Referring to FIG. 3, the lubricator 10, incidental to installation and after allowing it to soak oil to its saturated state, is folded by pressing the portions of the lubricator on opposite sides of the fold 40 inward toward the pleat 40. The lubricator is pushed into place under the journal, and the dimensioning is such that there is a neat fit of the lubricator between the opposed surfaces of the journal and the journal box. This brings the pile loops into intimate, intermeshed contact with one another in the valleys or V-folds V1 and V-2, FIG. 3, which lie on opposite sides of the loop or pleat 40. In effect, therefore, there is a four-ply wick at the center area of the lubricator including the two vertical legs or sides of the 5. loop .40; and, the adjacent portions of the upper strip. 11 which lie thereagainst, and this four-ply wick is. located at what constitutes the vertical center line of the journal and the journal box. Further, this four-ply wick is characterized by each ply being a continuous wick path from its point of origin at the bottom of the lubricator to its point of contact with the journal. Consequently, there is assurance of a very effective wick incontact with the low point of the journal and extending theretofrom the low part of the journal box where the last of the oil supply will be available.

It will be further noted in connection with FIG. 3 that the stiff end limits 45 and. 46. lie immediately under the so-called stop columns SCI and 8C2, These stop columns are fixed members in the journal box and hence any tendency for the journal, during rotation, to shift the lubricator is eventually resisted by a stop element 45 or 46 engaging the stop column, or other fixed element similarly located in the journal box.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the lubricator of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1 can be inexpensively manufactured from two. fabric strips of which onlyone includes pile loops. Only one of the strips is cut to afford the retainer flaps, and the end limits 45 and 46 are constructed from one of the strips. The loop or pleat 40 is of narrow width in comparison .to the width or transverse cross-section of the pockets 15, and the loop 40 does not include any insert like the oil absorbent members 16. Hence, the pile loop sides of the pleat 40 and the adjacent pile loop sides of the pockets afford a highly efiicient wick upward through the center of the lubricator. Onthe other hand, the inserts 16. fill the pockets 15 and hence account for a large reservoir of oil in addition to the oil normally added to the journal box, and of course will serve to push or mat the pile loops 11A together at the four-ply vertical center wick of the lubricator, when the lubricator is folded in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

Another form of lubricator is illustrated at 110 in FIG. 9 and comprises a cover 111, FIG. 10, constructed from a single piece of Woven, fast wicking material such as cotton duck or the like. The cover is folded and oriented in a manner to be described so as to afford a pair of relatively expansive pockets 112A and 112B, FIG. 10, having open ends as will be apparent in FIG. 9, and respective inserts 113A and 113B are adapted to be disposed in the pockets 112A and 1123 thus afforded. Advantageously, the edges of the. cover are pleated at P as shown in FIG. 9 to prevent ravelling.

The inserts 113A and 1133 that are to be disposed in the pockets 112A and 112B are of a resilient oil absorbent oil resistant material such as Neoprene of acrylonitrile synthetic rubber. These synthetic rubbers are capable of absorbing and holding a great deal of oil and do not undergo deterioration due to the presence of oil.

Referring to FIG. 11, the lubricator 110 is to be installed in the journal box I B of a railroad car beneath the journal I of the car axle extended into the journal box. The journal I engages and rotates relative to the low friction face BF of a bearing B located at the top of the journal box. The relationship is practically identical to what was described above in connection with FIG. 3, except the lubricator 110 does not include stiff retainers as 45 and 46 engageable with the stop columns of the box I B.

Again, in order to insure that the lubricator 110 will transfer copious amounts of oil to the journal J in the journal box I B, FIG. 11, the exposed surface of the cover 111 is defined by numerous pile loops 115, and these can be advantageously secured to the cover against ravelling by having resort to a lock stitch that in elfeot binds the pile affording yarns to the cover 111.

In constructing the lubricator 110, a single piece of the fabric 111 of the proper size is selected,-and the free ends E1 and'E2 thereof are brought together and a stitch is used to join the free ends. The cover 111 is then in the condition of an elongated sleeve-like body, and the portion containing the aforesaid stitch is then folded so that there results a U-shaped fold or pleat of the fabric material 111 that is bent outwardly at one side of the lubricator substantially at the center thereof between the pockets 112A and 112B as shown in FIG. 10. Thus, the bight of the fold or pleat 120 is outermost so, as to be disposed at what constitutes the upper strip portion 111U of the fabric 111, in position to contact the low part of the journal I as shown in FIG. 11.

The cover in the upper stripportion thereof is folded in the opposite direction on either side of the center fold 120, and such opposite folding results in a pair of bight portions 123 and 124 on either side of and at the bottom of the first or main fold 120.

The opposite side of the cover, that is, the lower side or strip 111L, opposite the fold 120, is tucked in to. afford an upwardly or inwardly extending U-shaped fold 126, the bight portion of which is connected by stitches S3 and S4 to the two loops 123 and 124 that lie on opposite sides of the center filler loop 120.

Prior to completing the stitches S3 and S4 aforesaid, a center pull strap may be advantageously located between the tucked portion 126 and the loops 123 and 124. The strap 130 is of fabric belting or the like, and hence will be secured in place at the time the stitches S3 and S4 are completed to join the loops 123 and 124 tov the tuck 126.

The foregoing completes the essential construction of the lubricator and results in the pockets 112A and 1128 having ample spaces outward of the center fold and in which the inserts 113A and 113B are to be disposed. The inserts 113A and 113B are held in place by end flaps or straps as 133, FIG. 9, such being provided at both of the open ends of the pockets 112A and 112B. The straps 133 are merely lightweight fabric having the upper and lower edges thereof stitched to the adjacent surfaces of the upper and lower strip portions of the cover 11.

The lubricator 110 before installation is allowed to soak up oil to its capacity, and then is in condition to be shoved into place in the space that exists between the lower pant of the journal J, FIG. 11, and the adjacent bottom wall of the journal box. It will be noted that the lower side of the cover 111 having the pile loops neatly and complementally engages the inside lower wall of the journal box. This disposes the lower strip of the cover 111 and the pile loops associated therewith in the oil reservoir, and consequently oil seeps therethrough and into the porous oil absorbent inserts 113A and 11313.

The inserts in turn serve to relay oil to the upper side or strip portion of the cover 111 where the pile loops are in contact with a substantial portion of the periphery of the journal. 3

It is important that oil be fed to the lower portion of the journal immediately when a railroad car commences motion, as has been noted above, and again the pleat 120 and the sides of the pockets in conjunction therewith afford a four-ply wick at the center of the lubricator, each such ply being continuous from its point of origin at the lower strip of the lubricator to its point of contact with the journal. Therefore, this oil will be wicked rapidly in an immediate response to the journal as it starts to rotate at the beginning of car motion by the lubricator 110.

As shown in FIG. 11, the arcuate inside wall of the journal box is not concentric to the journal. Thus, the nadir point of the journal is farther removed from the bottom wall of the journal than are points of the journal outward thereof. This could result in crowding of the journal at the lateral extremities thereof with consequent high pressure on the outer sides of the insert 113A and 113B. This may cause the lubricator to run hot, and in order to alleviate this condition each insert 113A and 113B is constructed of two blocks 135 and 136, FIG. 10, that are bevelled at 135B and 136B to create notches N at the outer sides of the porous inserts 113A and 113B. This results in the inserts having uniform pressure throughout when installed in the journal box as shown in FIG. 11. The blocks 135 and 136 are joined into a unitary insert by an oil permeable cement.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the lubricator of the present invention is one that is inexpensively produced from woven fabric material affording a lower strip that will be in contact with the bottom of the journal box, and an upper strip that will lie immediately beneaththe journal of the car. The upper and lower strips are so joined as to afford a pair of pockets in which are disposed individual resilient block-like inserts of oil-resistant material constituting the major reservoir for lubricant in the lubricator.

The lubricator cover, in the portion between the pockets, is formed with a pleat, and the sides of the pleat in conjunction with the sides of the fabric pockets adjacent thereto afford four plies of wicking material, each of which is continuous from its point of origin at the bottom strip to its point of contact with the car journal, thereby accounting for a highly efficient wick unencumbered by extraneous material and having no discontinuities.

Hence, while we have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification, and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A lubricator for the journal of a railroad car comprising a pair of oil wicking woven fabric members respectively affording a lower strip and an upper strip, the upper strip being of a predetermined fabric weight and having chenille threads of oil wicking material woven therein to afford a uniform coverage of oil wicking loops across the exposed upper face of the upper strip, the lower strip being of a fabric weight substantially greater than the upper strip, the upper and lower strips being joined at the longitudinal center area thereof and the ends of the lower strip being folded over the ends of the upper strip to afford a pair of pockets and to afford stiff limit elements, the upper strip being bunched at the longitudinal center area thereof to afford an outwardly extending looped portion extendible well above the upper surface of the portions of the upper strip on either side thereof,

8 oil absorbent material packed in said pockets, and means retaining the oil absorbent material in the pockets.

2. A lubricator according to claim 1 wherein the retaining means are in the form of flaps integral with the upper strip and which have free ends joined to the lower strip.

3. A lubricator for the journal of a railroad car comprising a pair of rectangular oil wicking woven fabric members respectively affording a lower strip and an upper strip, the upper strip being of a predetermined fabric weight and having chenille threads of oil wicking material Woven therein to afford a uniform coverage of oil wicking loops across the exposed upper face of the upper strip, the lower strip being of a fabric weight substantially greater than the upper strip, the upper and lower strips being joined at the longitudinal center area thereof and the ends of the lower strip being re-entrantly folded over the chenille ends of the upper strip and stitched thereto to afford a pair of pockets and to afford stiff limit elements, the upper strip being bunched at the longitudinal center area thereof to afford an outwardly extending looped portion extendible well above the upper surface of the portions of the upper strip on either side thereof, oil absorbent material packed in said pockets, the upper strip having four outer flaps at the corners thereof extending free of the chenilled areas thereof and the upper strip having a pair of medial flaps that are tucked inside the looped portion, said corner flaps being pelated and stitched at the pleats to the chenilled marginal portions of the upper strip to strengthen the corner flaps, the marginal portions of the lower strip being folded and said corner flaps having free ends tucked under the folds of the lower strip and stitched thereto to retain the oil absorbent material in said pockets.

4. A lubricator according to claim 3 wherein a pull strap is stitched to the lower strip at the center area of the lubricator and has an outwardly projected free end adapted to be grasped manually.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,929,665 Sockell Mar. 22, 1960 2,992,051 Murray July 11, 1961 3,020,103 Harkenrider Feb. 6, 1962 3,025,117 Arnett et al Mar. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,227,961 France Mar. 7, 1910 ark 

1. A LUBRICATOR FOR THE JOURNAL OF A RAILROAD CAR COMPRISING A PAIR OF OIL WICKING WOVEN FABRIC MEMBERS RESPECTIVELY AFFORDING A LOWER STRIP AND AN UPPER STRIP, THE UPPER STRIP BEING OF A PREDETERMINED FABRIC WEIGHT AND HAVING CHENILLE THREADS OF OIL WICKING MATERIAL WOVEN THEREIN TO AFFORD A UNIFORM COVERAGE OF OIL WICKING LOOPS ACROSS THE EXPOSED UPPER FACE OF THE UPPER STRIP, THE LOWER STRIP BEING OF A FABRIC WEIGHT SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE UPPER STRIP, THE UPPER AND LOWER STRIPS BEING JOINED AT THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER AREA THEREOF AND THE ENDS OF THE LOWER STRIP BEING FOLDED OVER THE ENDS OF THE UPPER STRIP TO AFFORD A PAIR OF POCKETS AND TO AFFORD STIFF LIMIT ELEMENTS, THE UPPER STRIP BEING BUNCHED AT THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER AREA THEREOF TO AFFORD AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING LOOPED PORTION EXTENDIBLE WELL ABOVE THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE PORTIONS OF THE UPPER STRIP ON EITHER SIDE THEREOF, OIL ABSORBENT MATERIAL PACKED IN SAID POCKETS, AND MEANS RETAINING THE OIL ABSORBENT MATERIAL IN THE POCKETS. 